due to the large crowd and a large number of no photography allowed signs, i only got a couple photos of artworks. but, wow, these are just two of a massive collection of work spanning decades assembled in numerous rooms. awesome.

at the exit, there were even some parting gifts.

i am sorry to say that before this show, i had completely underestimated lichtenstein's work. i am happy to say that my eyes have been opened and my mind sufficiently blown. so, without further ado, here is my entry for the recipe book project.

i took the picture with the reverse cam on my ipad in camera+, applied an auto correct filter, and cropped it to a square. then i took it into toon paint, turned it into an ink outline, and painted in certain areas with pop colors. last, i took it into popdot, applied sunday comics -comic 8 for the style, took out the border inset under adjust, and added the text in the bubble under fun stuff. now that i have given the "recipe", i'd like to add a quick note about the apps used. i love camera+ and use it all the time. although i've had toon paint for a while, i haven't used it much. it did do what i needed it to do for this project though. popdot, however, is another story. it crashed on me over and over. and over and over. i finally got this version to save, but am still a little surprised by that.

oh yes, and one more entry. i love this picture of me in my studio taken by my 4 year old son, zac. looks like he knows how to use instagram now!

so there you have it. if you have any kind of smartphone or tablet device, i truly hope you will try out some of the super fun apps out there. and if you do, i hope you will join us in a future edition of the recipe book project. click on over there and check out the entries for this month!

last year we did these great dia de los muertos prints (you can see my original post and tutorial here.) we are totally doing more of these. or some version of these. you know the artists like to change it up!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

my latest graphite portrait is finished. i'm asked all the time how long these portraits take me, and the truth is i have no idea. the truth is, when i work on these, my concentration is so intense that i lose all track of time. my fall back answer is 20 hours. i guess. in the greatest drawing book ever written, drawing on the right side of the brain, betty edwards talks about the shifting of the brain from the left side to the right. and i can absolutely vouch for that. that is absolutely what happens to me.

graphite on paper 16"x20" 2012

this kind of drawing is intense, tedious, and sometimes mentally exhausting. and it is just one example of the kinds of drawing that i do. i believe that the key to my success in drawing is the simple fact that i am always drawing. and for every finished large scale portrait like this one, there are sketch books filled with quick, gestural and experimental drawings. in fact, here are just a few i did during the same time span of this portrait.

2 minute blind gesture (blind because i did not look at the paper i was drawing on.) i think this may have also been an experiment with water soluble pencils.

2 minute blind gesture with watercolor pencils. now, i was looking at the paper when i went over the pencil with a brush with water. and the background was a test with some water soluble crayons. fail!

5 minute, mostly blind gesture with watercolor paint. i think i'll try drawing on top of this later.

and a hodge podge of experiments crammed in one.

the truth is, the drawing exercises that i teach my art students are actually the exercises that i do myself on a regular basis. and my art students... they have all seen my sketch books too...the good, the bad, and the ugly. they know how long it has taken me to get to where i am. they know how many hours goes into making what i make. they know how many experiments work out, and how so many more of my experiments fail. and they know how often i practice, because drawing is a skill that is constantly evolving...

i know i'll never be done.

this week...here's to never settling and to practicing what you preach!

why julia?

i use the name julia for all my art. it all started back in college as a tribute to my great- grandfather, who left me the money to pay for my art degree. he called me julia.

Welcome to jaeartworks!

i truly hope you find yourself inspired, but please remember that all images and artworks are protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, displayed or published without permission of julie hernandez!